Chas. M. (Charles Michael) Higgins

Born in County Leitrim, Ireland, in 1854 and brought to Brooklyn as a child, he became best known as the creator of Higgins American India Ink and the head of the Charles M. Higgins Company. The business began in the 1880s and grew from Brooklyn into a wider international trade, with offices beyond New York and products sold widely.

He was more than a manufacturer. Archival and reference sources describe him as a writer whose papers include pamphlets, photographs, and clippings on religion, morality, patriotism, and public controversies. He was also active in Brooklyn civic life, including historical preservation efforts connected with the Battle of Long Island and the old Stone House.

Some of his later writing was tied to anti-vaccination activism, and he held leadership roles in that movement. For readers today, that part of his record is best understood as part of the history of public-health debate rather than reliable medical guidance. He died in 1929, leaving behind both a lasting ink brand and a very distinctive paper trail.